Three Men and a Little Old Lady - Conclusion
After the Big Guy wraps up everything that he wants to say, he heads back over by me and I great him with a huge hug and whisper "thank you" into his ear.
I know it wasn't easy for him to do and I'll never forget that he stepped up today.
An older gentleman goes to the podium. I don't know who he is and I don't recognize his name when he introduces himself.
But he speaks very highly of my dad and he flew down from his retirement home in Utah to be here for today's service.
Here I was just an hour ago worrying if anyone was going to show up and we've got people FLYING in to be here.
I should have known better.
I shake this man's hand as he walks back to his seat and Mr. Stream does something that I'm totally not expecting.
He introduces my grandma.
One might think by looking at this frail, slightly hunched, legally blind, 88 year old woman that she just might have a weak, old-lady voice.
You'd be wrong.
She has a booming voice that is full of life.
She is a God warrior.
Normally, when she starts preaching to me, I just smile and remain respectful. I listen to the same stories over and over. I hear what a wicked world this is and how close we are to Christ's return. I nod as she tells me for the millionth time that God chose me before the foundation of the world.
And now, I brace myself because she is a mother that has lost her oldest son and has 300 hundred people here that can do nothing but listen to her now.
She is going to preach.
As she gets going into a sermon that I've been privately privy to for three decades, I'm surprised that I'm not embarrassed by her. It actually feels right to listen to her today.
Because she is thankful for the 62 years that she had with my father.
My dad had almost died so many times during his life it is ridiculous.
Childhood illnesses. Severe car accidents at 16 and 23. Attempted to enlist during the Vietnam War but couldn't pass the physical. Swelling of the lining of the heart in 1980. The internal bleeding a couple of years ago.
Both of my grandma's sisters had buried children before her too. She couldn't really complain about her lot when one sister had buried a child at 28 and another sister had buried both of her adopted children way before their time.
She ends by mentioning that about the only thing she can do now to be useful is pray. She wakes up around 4 a.m. and prays for everyone connected to our family that she knows (who knows, some of you may be on the list).
My grandma wants everyone to know just one thing - God does all things well.
I don't know about that but I do know that my grandma has been that little voice in my head that has been my conscience throughout my life. It was her that taught me that when the choice is present to do the right thing or the wrong thing, I had to do that right thing.
And that's why I think that it's my grandma that does all things well.
VW
I know it wasn't easy for him to do and I'll never forget that he stepped up today.
An older gentleman goes to the podium. I don't know who he is and I don't recognize his name when he introduces himself.
But he speaks very highly of my dad and he flew down from his retirement home in Utah to be here for today's service.
Here I was just an hour ago worrying if anyone was going to show up and we've got people FLYING in to be here.
I should have known better.
I shake this man's hand as he walks back to his seat and Mr. Stream does something that I'm totally not expecting.
He introduces my grandma.
One might think by looking at this frail, slightly hunched, legally blind, 88 year old woman that she just might have a weak, old-lady voice.
You'd be wrong.
She has a booming voice that is full of life.
She is a God warrior.
Normally, when she starts preaching to me, I just smile and remain respectful. I listen to the same stories over and over. I hear what a wicked world this is and how close we are to Christ's return. I nod as she tells me for the millionth time that God chose me before the foundation of the world.
And now, I brace myself because she is a mother that has lost her oldest son and has 300 hundred people here that can do nothing but listen to her now.
She is going to preach.
As she gets going into a sermon that I've been privately privy to for three decades, I'm surprised that I'm not embarrassed by her. It actually feels right to listen to her today.
Because she is thankful for the 62 years that she had with my father.
My dad had almost died so many times during his life it is ridiculous.
Childhood illnesses. Severe car accidents at 16 and 23. Attempted to enlist during the Vietnam War but couldn't pass the physical. Swelling of the lining of the heart in 1980. The internal bleeding a couple of years ago.
Both of my grandma's sisters had buried children before her too. She couldn't really complain about her lot when one sister had buried a child at 28 and another sister had buried both of her adopted children way before their time.
She ends by mentioning that about the only thing she can do now to be useful is pray. She wakes up around 4 a.m. and prays for everyone connected to our family that she knows (who knows, some of you may be on the list).
My grandma wants everyone to know just one thing - God does all things well.
I don't know about that but I do know that my grandma has been that little voice in my head that has been my conscience throughout my life. It was her that taught me that when the choice is present to do the right thing or the wrong thing, I had to do that right thing.
And that's why I think that it's my grandma that does all things well.
VW
posted by JVW at 8:46 PM
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